JP2010041563A - Image forming apparatus and mobile terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile terminal and image forming apparatus which reduce an operational burden on a user during authentication processing and exclude a connection from an inappropriate terminal. <P>SOLUTION: Each of the image forming apparatus and the mobile terminal includes a first wireless communication means performing short-range communication and a second wireless communication performing high-speed communication. The mobile terminal is first held over a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus, so that the image forming apparatus acquires access information of the mobile terminal through the first wireless communication means and the mobile terminal acquires access information of the image forming apparatus and a private key issued by the image forming apparatus through the first wireless communication means. The image forming apparatus then transmits the private key to the mobile terminal thereafter and the mobile terminal is shifted to a state of waiting a connection request from the image forming apparatus. When the connection request is issued from the image forming apparatus through the second wireless communication means to the mobile terminal, the mobile terminal collates it with the private key generated by the image forming apparatus through the first wireless communication means and permits the image forming apparatus to be connected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a portable terminal, and relates to an authentication technique between the image forming apparatus and the portable terminal.

Recent mobile terminals such as mobile phones and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) have become multifunctional and can input and store information.
In the case of printing out data held in such a portable terminal, the portable terminal is connected to an external printer device and a printout is requested.

In Patent Document 1, when a portable terminal is held over a predetermined position of an image forming apparatus, a mutual wireless LAN (Local Area Network) is used by using short-range wireless communication (non-contact IC card and card reader) provided on both sides. ) Are exchanged, the user and user authority are authenticated, and the data held in the portable terminal is transferred to the image forming apparatus via the wireless LAN and printed.
JP 2007-79039 A

  Normally, when wireless communication such as wireless LAN or Bluetooth (registered trademark) is used, authentication information such as a secret key required for communication and physical address information of a terminal needs to be set in advance by an administrator or the like.

Therefore, the service is limited to services provided only between a specific terminal and the printing device. If you want to communicate with other printing devices for which authentication information has not been set, the authentication information must be The settings need to be made manually.
Such a setting is difficult for users who have little use knowledge, and it is very inconvenient for users who do not.

  In the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, there is no mention of setting of authentication information that should be set in advance between the mobile terminal and the printing apparatus or the wireless access point, and it is considered that the setting is made in advance by an administrator or the like. In addition, the user needs to input a password for identity verification.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and can reduce an operation burden on a user in an authentication process between a portable terminal and an image forming apparatus, and can eliminate an inappropriate connection from a terminal. An object is to provide a forming apparatus and a portable terminal.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention is for communication connection between an image forming apparatus and a portable terminal, and has the following configuration.

  An image forming apparatus includes: a first wireless communication unit capable of short-range communication with the portable terminal; and a second wireless communication unit capable of communication over a longer distance than the portable terminal and the first wireless communication unit. When the communication connection is established, the first wireless communication unit acquires access information for the second wireless communication unit to communicate with the portable terminal when detecting the approach of the portable terminal. The generated random secret key and the access information for the portable terminal to communicate with the second wireless communication means are transmitted, and the acquired access information with the portable terminal is set in the second wireless communication means Then, the second wireless communication means requests the connection authentication by transmitting the secret key transmitted to the portable terminal to the portable terminal.

  The portable terminal includes a first wireless communication unit capable of short-range communication with the image forming apparatus, and a second wireless communication capable of communication over a longer distance than the image forming apparatus and the first wireless communication unit. And when the communication connection is established, the first wireless communication unit detects access information for the second wireless communication unit to communicate with the image forming apparatus when detecting the approach of the image forming apparatus. And transmitting the secret key transmitted from the image forming apparatus and the access information for the second wireless communication means to communicate with the image forming apparatus, and receiving the received access information with the image forming apparatus. The second wireless communication unit is set to the second wireless communication unit, and the second wireless communication unit collates the private key received from the image forming apparatus with the private key received by the first wireless communication unit to authenticate the connection. To do.

  After the authentication, these image forming apparatuses and portable terminals reset the authentication operation for each of the first wireless communication means when they are outside the communication distance range.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the burden on the user in the authentication process between the portable terminal and the image forming apparatus, and to eliminate the connection from an inappropriate terminal. Therefore, it is possible to provide services in a multifunction device installed in a convenience store. It can be safely provided to an unspecified number of users.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The present invention will be described by taking the following print service as an example, but is intended for authentication processing between a portable terminal and an image forming apparatus, and the service between the portable terminal and the image forming apparatus is limited to this. It is not something.

The user automatically holds the portable terminal over a predetermined place of the image forming apparatus installed in a convenience store or the like, or places the portable terminal in a predetermined place, so that authentication processing is automatically performed between the portable terminal and the image forming apparatus. .
After the authentication, the image forming apparatus acquires a list of data held in the portable terminal and displays the list.
The user selects desired data from the list displayed on the display device of the image forming apparatus, and instructs execution of printing.
When the user moves the portable terminal away from the image forming apparatus after printing, the information used for the authentication process is deleted from the image forming apparatus and the portable terminal, and the printing service ends.

Next, this embodiment will be described in detail.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus and a mobile terminal according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the present embodiment includes an image forming apparatus 1001 including a display device 1002 and a portable terminal 1005. The image forming apparatus 1001 and the portable terminal 1005 are both connected by two communication methods. Is possible.

The first communication method is, for example, a non-contact communication method that enables transmission at a short distance of several centimeters to several tens of centimeters. Instructions and data are transmitted (written) between the image forming apparatus 1001 and the portable terminal 1005. ) And receive (read).
In this embodiment, it is assumed that a passive IC chip is mounted on the portable terminal 1005 and a non-contact reader / writer is mounted on the image forming apparatus 1001.

The second communication method is a contactless communication method that enables longer-distance communication than the first communication method and enables wireless communication at a higher speed than the first communication method.
In the present embodiment, data (image data, documents, etc.) held in the portable terminal 1005 is transferred to the image forming apparatus 1001 using Bluetooth communication.
In the present embodiment, the above communication method is used. Of course, other non-contact communication methods can also be adopted.

  The display device 1002 is an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or the like provided in the image forming apparatus 1001 and is used for confirming image processing setting information and displaying the status of image processing. The display device 1002 is provided with a touch panel, which is used by a user to input a value.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration included in the image forming apparatus 2001 and the portable terminal 2020.
The image forming apparatus 2001 is a multifunctional image forming apparatus (multifunction machine) that can perform printing, facsimile transmission, e-mail transmission, and the like on data held by the portable terminal 2020. The first wireless communication unit 2002 and the second wireless communication unit 2003, a control unit 2005, an image input unit 2006, an instruction input unit 2007, a display unit 2008, a storage unit 2009, and a printing unit 2010.

  The mobile terminal 2020 is a mobile phone, PDA, mobile PC, or the like that holds data to be printed by the image forming apparatus 2001, and includes a first wireless communication unit 2022, a second wireless communication unit 2023, a control unit 2025, an instruction input A unit 2027, a display unit 2028, and a storage unit 2029.

First, the function of each component of the image forming apparatus 2001 will be described.
The control unit 2005 controls each component of the apparatus by executing a control program stored in the storage unit 2009 by a CPU (central processing unit).
The storage unit 2009 stores read or received image data, control programs and data of the apparatus, and the like. In addition, data being processed by the device is temporarily stored.

The first wireless communication unit 2002 is a non-contact reader / writer. When the non-contact IC chip mounted on the mobile terminal 2020 enters the electromagnetic induction zone, the first wireless communication unit 2002 supplies power by the electromagnetic induction action. Read data and write data.
The second wireless communication unit 2003 inquires and receives data held by the mobile terminal 2020 through Bluetooth communication with the second wireless communication unit 2023 of the mobile terminal 2020.
Each of these wireless communication units may be built in the device or connected by an external connection interface.

An image input unit 2006 reads image data by photoelectrically converting reflected light corresponding to an image of light irradiated on a document.
The instruction input unit 2007 performs input operations such as settings and commands by the user from the touch panel of the display device 1002.
The display unit 2008 displays various information such as driving conditions, device states, input information, information on communication with the mobile terminal 2020, and the like on the display device 1002.

  The printing unit 2010 forms the image data read by the image input unit 2006 and the image data received from the portable terminal 2020 on a recording sheet and discharges it. The recording method is an electrophotographic method such as a laser beam printer, but it may be a type that ejects ink droplets, and the type of the method is not limited.

Next, the function of each component of the mobile terminal 2020 will be described.
The control unit 2025 controls each component of the terminal by executing a control program stored in the storage unit 2029 by a CPU (Central Processing Unit).
The storage unit 2029 stores a control program, data, and the like for the terminal. In addition, data being processed by the terminal is also temporarily stored.

The first wireless communication unit 2022 is composed of a non-contact type IC chip, and when the first wireless communication unit 2022 comes within the electromagnetic induction area of the first wireless communication unit 2002 of the image forming apparatus 2001, the operation is started by the supplied power. It responds to reading and writing of data from the first wireless communication unit 2002 by the started cooperative application.
The second wireless communication unit 2023 transmits a list of data held by the terminal and designated data through Bluetooth communication with the second wireless communication unit 2003 of the image forming apparatus 2001.

The instruction input unit 2027 performs input operations such as settings and commands by the user using keys, buttons, and the like provided in the terminal.
The display unit 2028 displays various information input to the terminal, information related to communication with the image forming apparatus 2001, and the like.

Next, a control flow in the image forming apparatus 2001 and the portable terminal 2020 will be described.
First, the control flow of the image forming apparatus 2001 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the mobile terminal 2020 (non-contact IC chip) comes within the electromagnetic induction range (step S1), the first wireless communication unit 2002 (non-contact reader / writer) inquires about the type of app that can be executed. If the print service is not supported (NO in step S2), the process ends.

  On the other hand, if the detected first wireless communication unit 2022 (non-contact IC chip) is compatible with the printing service (YES in step S2), the control unit 2005 indicates that the portable terminal 2020 capable of communication is within the electromagnetic induction range. The control unit 2005 requests the transmission of access information regarding the second wireless communication unit 2023 of the portable terminal 2020 via the first wireless communication unit 2002 (step S3).

  The access information requested here is the physical address information of the second wireless communication unit 2023, the device name, and the like during Bluetooth communication. However, if the communication method of the second wireless communication unit is another communication method such as wireless LAN, in addition to physical address information, access point information such as SSID (Service Set Identifier), encryption method, encryption key, etc. Request.

  The control unit 2005 sets communication with the second wireless communication unit 2003 based on the access information of the second wireless communication unit 2023 received from the mobile terminal 2020, and verifies a secret key (passphrase) to be verified when connecting. ) Is randomly generated (step S4), and the generated secret key and access information regarding the second wireless communication unit 2003 are transmitted to the portable terminal 2020 via the first wireless communication unit 2002 (step S5).

  Here, the access information regarding the second wireless communication unit 2003 is the same as that of the mobile terminal. Since the secret key is randomly generated, the secret key is different every time even if it is a combination of the same portable terminal and the image forming apparatus, so that it is avoided from risks such as eavesdropping.

Thereafter, the communication by both the first wireless communication units continues until the connection is disconnected, and the control unit 2005 activates the second wireless communication unit 2003 and the portable terminal 2020 via the second wireless communication unit 2003. A connection request is made to the second wireless communication unit 2023 (step S6). This connection request is transmitted with the secret key generated previously.
If a connection rejection signal is sent from the portable terminal 2020 or if there is no response even after a predetermined time has elapsed (NO in step S7), the process proceeds to step S11.

On the other hand, when the connection with the second wireless communication unit 2023 of the portable terminal 2020 is successful (YES in step S7), the control unit 2005 executes a user operation for selecting data to be printed and specifying print processing. (Step S8).
By the series of operations of the first wireless communication unit and the second wireless communication unit of both devices so far, the setting of the secret key that has been manually set manually for each portable terminal by an administrator or the like is automated. The
Because of this automation, even the user of the mobile terminal does not need to know what secret key has been exchanged, so that the risk of a secret key leak or input error is avoided.

In step S8, the following processing is performed.
When the second wireless communication units 2003 and 2023 are connected, the control unit 2005 requests the portable terminal 2020 for a list of printable files.
In response to this, the portable terminal 2020 sends a list of printable files stored in the storage unit 2029 to the image forming apparatus. Information sent at this time is limited to information that can be transferred in a short time, such as text information such as a file name and a time stamp, and a reduced image (thumbnail) of an image.

  The control unit 2005 loads the received file list into the storage unit 2009 and displays the file list received via the display unit 2008 on the display device 1002 as illustrated in FIG.

FIG. 4A shows a list area 4002 for displaying a list of file names 4003 received from the mobile terminal in the upper half of the display screen 4001 and a preview area 4004 for previewing the file name 4008 selected in the list area 4002. And a print start button 4005 for starting printing of the contents of the selected file.
By having the preview area 4004, it is possible to confirm whether the selected file is a desired file before starting printing.

  FIG. 4B shows a list area 4002 for displaying a list of thumbnails 4006 of files received from the mobile terminal and a thumbnail 4007 with a check mark selected in the list area 4002 in the upper half of the display screen 4001. A preview area 4004 to be previewed and a print start button 4005 for starting printing of the contents of the selected file are provided.

The user selects one file desired to be printed from the list of files displayed on the display device 1002 by operating the instruction input unit 2007.
Here, one file may be selected at a time, or a plurality of files may be selected. When a plurality of files are selected, a check mark (4007) is displayed for the already selected file, or the display is reversed (4008), for example, so that the display can be easily distinguished from the unselected file.

  When the file is selected, the control unit 2005 downloads the content of the file selected from the portable terminal 2020 via the second wireless communication unit 2003, and the downloaded file is expanded in the storage unit 2009, and the preview image is displayed. It is displayed in the preview area 4004.

  Finally, after confirming that the preview image displayed in the preview area 4004 is a file to be printed, the user presses a print start button 4005 to start printing.

  Next, when the first wireless communication unit (non-contact IC chip) 2022 of the mobile terminal 2020 is out of the electromagnetic induction area of the first wireless communication unit (non-contact reader / writer) 2002 (YES in step S9), The one wireless communication unit (non-contact reader / writer) 2002 notifies the control unit 2005 that the portable terminal 2020 is out of service, and the control unit 2005 disconnects communication by the second wireless communication unit 2002 (step S10). Then, all access information and secret key related to the second wireless communication unit 2022 of the portable terminal 2020 temporarily stored in the device are deleted (step S11), and the process is terminated.

  As described above, when the first wireless communication unit is moved out of the communication range of short-range wireless communication, the process of disconnecting communication by the second wireless communication unit 2003 is the communication method of the second wireless communication unit 2003. This is because the communication distance of Bluetooth communication and wireless LAN communication that is assumed to be as long as several meters or more is to prevent wireless communication from being left.

  In addition, deleting all access information and secret keys exchanged during communication with the mobile terminal 2020 can reduce storage capacity by connecting a large amount of mobile terminal information that may be used once, Information leakage can be prevented.

Next, the control flow of the mobile terminal 2020 will be described.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control flow of the mobile terminal 2020.

When the image forming apparatus 2001 (non-contact reader / writer) comes within the electromagnetic induction area, the first wireless communication unit 2022 (non-contact type IC chip) has the image forming apparatus 2001 (non-contact reader / writer) within the area. Is notified to the control unit 2025 (step S21).
The control unit 2025 activates the cooperative application and transmits the type of application applicable to the terminal (step S22).

  The control unit 2025 receives a request for access information regarding the second wireless communication unit 2023 of the mobile terminal 2020 via the first wireless communication unit 2022 (step S23), and transmits access information regarding the second wireless communication unit 2003 ( Step S24). Here, as described above, the access information to be transmitted is a Bluetooth address, a device name, and the like.

  The access information and the secret key related to the second wireless communication unit 2003 from the image forming apparatus 2001 are received (steps S25 and S26), and the control unit 2025 receives the access information of the second wireless communication unit 2003 received from the image forming apparatus 2001. Based on the setting of communication with the second wireless communication unit 2023, the secret key is stored and the second wireless communication unit 2023 is activated (step S27).

  Thereafter, communication by both first wireless communication units continues until the connection is disconnected, and when the connection request from the image forming apparatus 2001 is detected, the control unit 2025 compares the secret key exchanged in advance. If successful, the connection permission is returned to the second wireless communication unit 2003 and communication by the second wireless communication unit 2023 is started (step S28).

  The second wireless communication unit 2023 waits for an information transmission request from the image forming apparatus 2001, and the portable terminal (non-contact IC chip) 2020 goes out of the electromagnetic induction range of the first wireless communication unit (non-contact reader / writer) 2002. Until then, the information stored in the portable terminal 2020 is transmitted in response to a request from the image forming apparatus 2001 (steps S29, S30, S31).

  When the control unit 2025 detects that the first wireless communication unit (non-contact reader / writer) 2002 is out of the electromagnetic induction range, the control unit 2025 disconnects communication in the second wireless communication unit 2023 (step S32) and performs communication. The access information and secret key relating to the second wireless communication unit 2003 of the image forming apparatus 2001 are deleted, and the process is terminated (step S33).

  As described above, when the first wireless communication unit is moved out of the communication range of short-range wireless communication, the process of disconnecting communication by the second wireless communication unit 2023 is the communication method of the second wireless communication unit 2023. This is because the communication distance of Bluetooth communication and wireless LAN communication that is assumed to be as long as several meters or more is to prevent wireless communication from being left.

  Also, deleting all the access information and secret key used for communication with the image forming apparatus 2001 is because the connection information of the image forming apparatuses with low usage frequency is accumulated one after another, and the information of the equipment with high usage frequency is searched. It is possible to prevent inconveniences such as deterioration in performance or the use of a limited number of device registrations.

  By configuring the embodiment as described above, it is possible to release a user from troublesome work such as manual setting of information necessary for authentication such as a secret key, and to eliminate a connection from an inappropriate terminal. Since wireless communication can be automatically established, it is possible to safely provide services to an unspecified number of users in a multifunction device or the like installed in a convenience store.

  In the above embodiment, the secret key related to the second wireless communication unit is generated on the image forming apparatus side. However, when the mobile terminal receives information related to the second wireless communication unit of the image forming apparatus, the mobile terminal side Then, the secret key may be generated and returned to the image forming apparatus.

  Alternatively, the communication of the first wireless communication unit may be disconnected when the second wireless communication unit is connected. In this case, when the end of the service is notified from the user, the end of the service is notified from the image forming apparatus to the portable terminal. By this notification, both the second wireless communication units are disconnected and the information temporarily stored is deleted.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications and corrections can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
In the above-described embodiment, it is assumed that there are a large number of unspecified users such as convenience stores and the frequency of using the same image forming apparatus is low. However, it may be used in an office. In this case, since the mobile terminal and the image forming apparatus communicating in the office are fixed to some extent, the connection information and the secret key information need not be deleted.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus and a mobile terminal according to the present embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function structure with which an image forming apparatus and a portable terminal are provided. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of control of the image forming apparatus. It is a display example of a file list. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of control of a portable terminal.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1001 ... Image forming apparatus, 1002 ... Display apparatus, 1005 ... Portable terminal, 2001 ... Image forming apparatus, 2002 ... 1st wireless communication part, 2003 ... 2nd wireless communication part, 2005 ... Control part, 2006 ... Image input part, 2007 ... Instruction input unit, 2008 ... Display unit, 2009 ... Storage unit, 2010 ... Printing unit, 2020 ... Mobile terminal, 2022 ... First wireless communication unit, 2023 ... Second wireless communication unit, 2025 ... Control unit, 2027 ... Instruction input , 2028 ... display unit, 2029 ... storage unit, 4001 ... display screen, 4002 ... list area, 4003 ... file name, 4004 ... preview area, 4005 ... print start button, 4006 ... thumbnail, 4007 ... thumbnail with check mark, 4008 ... Selected file name.

Claims (5)

An image forming apparatus for communication connection with a mobile terminal,
A first wireless communication unit capable of short-range communication with the portable terminal, and a second wireless communication unit capable of communication over a longer distance than the portable terminal and the first wireless communication unit,
At the time of communication connection, when the first wireless communication means detects the approach of the portable terminal, the second wireless communication means obtains access information for communicating with the portable terminal, and the generated secret key And the mobile terminal transmits access information for communicating with the second wireless communication means, and sets the acquired access information with the mobile terminal in the second wireless communication means,
The image forming apparatus, wherein the second wireless communication unit transmits a secret key transmitted to the mobile terminal to the mobile terminal and requests connection authentication.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein after the authentication, when the mobile terminal moves out of a communication distance range of the first wireless communication unit, an authentication operation related to the mobile terminal is reset. Image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first wireless communication unit randomly generates the secret key. A portable terminal that is communicatively connected to an image forming apparatus,
A first wireless communication unit capable of short-distance communication with the image forming apparatus; and a second wireless communication unit capable of communicating over a longer distance than the image forming apparatus and the first wireless communication unit. Prepared,
When the first wireless communication means detects the approach of the image forming apparatus during communication connection, the first wireless communication means transmits access information for the second wireless communication means to communicate with the image forming apparatus, and the image The private key transmitted from the forming apparatus and the second wireless communication means receive access information for communicating with the image forming apparatus, and the received access information with the image forming apparatus is received in the second wireless communication. Set the means,
The portable terminal characterized in that the second wireless communication means collates and authenticates the secret key received from the image forming apparatus and the secret key received by the first wireless communication means.   5. The portable terminal according to claim 4, wherein after the authentication, when the image forming apparatus is separated from a communication distance range of the first wireless communication unit, an authentication operation relating to the image forming apparatus is reset. Mobile terminal.

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